The Best Unfairly Obscure Books of the 1980s

[james_davis_nicoll]

Once a year, a question gets asked on rec.arts.sf.written: what were the best books of a given decade? So far this has been asked about the '50s, '60s and '70s so I am going to compile a list of candidates for the next time. I'd like to single out the best books that -aren't- commonly known or which at least saw lousy distribution.

My top two are the Rosinante trilogy (Alexis Gilliland)[1] and The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook, which got buried by Warner thingie (Questar?) when they had it. I should go look at the copyright on my George Turners. I am sure he did Drowning Towers back then, but Beloved Son is too early.

What books would you folks push?


1: Which I will count as a single because! that's why! Just Because!

Comments

[larryhammer]

Ian McDonald, Out on Blue Six

[larryhammer]

Patrick Adkins, who wrote a partial series that started with Lord of the Crocked Paths, where the title character is Chronos. Zeus was born by the end of the second book, and was an adolescent in the third, and he then vanished off the pubishing stage. The last was also significantly weaker, but the first was unjustly overlooked.

---L.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

He seems to be self-publishing now and has a fourth book out, although I get the (unsubstantiated) feeling it's a trunk novel.

[larryhammer]

Huh. I see what you mean about trunkiness. Thanks for the pointer.

---L.